1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a holder for a cigarette, a device for cleaning the cigarette holder and methods of use thereof. Particularly, the present invention is directed to a hollow tube with an attached clip for attaching a cigarette to enable smoking of the cigarette until it is completely burned up, while also lengthening the distance between the burning embers and the smoker. The jaws of the clip are also used to prepare the non-burning end of the cigarette so that it will form an airtight attachment to the cigarette holder.
2. Brief Description of the Prior Art
The cost of tobacco and tobacco-type products have increased over the years making it desirable not to waste even a small amount of the substance smoked, as the burning embers near the smoker. It is also desirable to distance the smoker from the hot burning embers, especially as the embers near the smoker.
It has been well known for many years that there are many different configurations of cigarette holders. Certain of the prior art cigarette holders have a hollow tube with a front end and a rear end. The inner diameter of the front end is slightly smaller than the outer diameter of the cigarette, so that the cigarette can be forcibly inserted therein and will be held within the cigarette holder by a friction fit. In these prior art cigarette holders, it is important that the cigarette fits snuggly inside the front end of the cigarette holder so that no air can enter the cigarette holder at the junction with the cigarette. When the smoker sucks air from the rear end of the cigarette holder, the air is drawn in through the burning embers only and, thereby, creates the smoke to be inhaled by the smoker.
While in the past all cigarettes were the same standard diameter, there are now many different types of cigarettes, some called “slims,” with different diameters. In addition, hand rolled cigarettes vary from cigarette-to-cigarette and from person-to-person. One of the problems that a smoker experiences with the prior art cigarette holders is that cigarettes can have many different outer diameters and, therefore, a smoker would require many different cigarette holders with various sized inner diameters to make the necessary snug, airtight fit around the cigarette to prevent air from entering the junction between the holder and the cigarette.
Another problem experienced by smokers using certain of the prior art cigarette holders is that, after a number of uses, a tar type residue builds up on the inside of the hollow tube from the by-products of the smoke traveling through it, necessitating that the hollow tube must be periodically cleaned. A pipe cleaner device that is constructed from twisted wire and short bristles is inserted into the hollow tube to clean it. The pipe cleaner must be pushed and pulled many times through the hollow tube to remove much of the tar type substance. However, there is no guarantee how much of the residue is removed and over time some hardens and cannot be removed by the bristles of the pipe cleaner. Therefore, after time, the cigarette holder must be either chemically cleaned or discarded because the thickness of the dried tar increases to the point where it restricts the flow of the smoke to an unacceptable level.
Other common methods of holding a cigarette so that it can be smoked to completion involve a clip either similar to an “Alligator-type” electrical clip, or a clip made using any number of different configurations of bent wire. These clips are used to hold the non-burning end of the cigarette so that the burning embers do not burn the smoker's fingers as they smoke the cigarette to completion. The cigarette is held by the clip close to the non-burning end at a right angle to the axis of the clip to allow the non-burning end to touch the lips of the smoker to enable the smoker to draw in the smoke. Embodiments of this type of clip range from the common electrical “Alligator-type” clips to bent wire formed into a variety of generally U-shape configurations where the ends of the “U” are the jaws and the spring of the bent wire is used to clamp onto the end of the cigarette. In common with all these embodiments is the requirement that the cigarette be held at a right angle to the jaws of the clip to allow room for the smoker's lips to touch the non-burning end, so as to draw in the smoke.
The disadvantages of these type of devices is that, as the cigarette burns towards completion, the hot burning embers come very close to the lips of the smoker and can easily burn the smoker's lips. Also, the temperature of the smoke rises to an uncomfortable level as the burning embers get nearer to the smoker as the cigarette burns to completion.
While the prior art discloses many types of cigarette holders, so far as is known, none of these holders resolve these problems in a simple, effective and highly advantageous manner, as in the present invention.